FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 3, 2015

Flatlands Man Sentenced to 20 years to Life in Fatal Stabbing

Defendant Stabbed Acquaintance 29 Times During Altercation

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a 25-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for stabbing an acquaintance 29 times following a dispute and causing his death while they were socializing in the defendant’s rented room in Flatlands last year.

District Attorney Ken Thompson said, “This defendant brutally stabbed the victim 29 times, and took his life in the process. He will now have many years to think about how he let a simple dispute lead him to commit a senseless murder.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Joshua Simser, 25, of Flatlands, Brooklyn. He was convicted of second-degree murder on October 28, 2015 following a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus, who today sentenced the defendant to 20 years to life in prison.

The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on April 15, 2014, the defendant and an acquaintance, Rufino Sanchez, 41, were socializing in the defendant’s rented room when the defendant stabbed Sanchez 29 times following a dispute, killing him. It is unclear what the dispute was about, though when his body was discovered the victim had multiple stab wounds to the face and neck.

Following the murder, the defendant hid the body in a storage container and left it in his room for four days, according to testimony, before eventually confessing to his employer. The employer notified police, who discovered the body.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Melissa Carvajal, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Bureau Chief.